Coke, Pepsi test positive for pesticides in CSE study

TIMES NEWS NETWORK, Aug 5, 2003, 01.53pm IST

NEW DELHI: The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) raised a huge scare on Tuesday about a dozen popular soft drinks, including Coca Cola and Pepsi. At a press conference in the Capital, the CSE claimed that tests have shown these soft drinks to contain traces of four extremely toxic pesticides and insecticides — lindane, DDT, malathion and chlorpyrifos. Earlier, the CSE had exposed the presence of pesticides in popular brands of bottled water.

The health hazards resulting from the pesticides include cancer, damage to the nervous and reproductive systems, birth defects and severe disruption of the immune system.

The stunning revelation brought the two cola rivals, Coke and Pepsi, together when they held a joint press conference later in the day to refute CSE's claims as well as to threaten legal action against the centre. The multinational soft drinks giants not only disputed CSE's findings but asserted that the centre didn't have the wherewithal to carry out proper tests on soft drinks.

The tests on the soft drinks, conducted by the pollution monitoring laboratory of the CSE, revealed levels of pesticide residues far in excess of the maximum residue limit for pesticides set down by EEC standards. The soft drinks that failed the test were: Coca Cola, Fanta, Mirinda, Pepsi, Seven Up, Limca, Blue Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Thums Up, Diet Pepsi, Sprite and Mirinda Lemon. What was equally alarming was CSE's revelation that there are no standards for soft drinks in Indian law.

The Food Products Order and Prevention of Food Adulteration fail to address the issue of standards for non-alcoholic beverages or soft drinks.

Says CSE's Sunita Narain, "The regulations for the soft drinks industry are much weaker compared to the bottled water industry. The norms are a maze of meaningless definitions and when deciphered reveal that the 'food' sector is virtually unregulated".

The study found that market leaders Coca Cola and Pepsi had almost similar concentrations of pesticide residues. The total pesticides in PepsiCo brands on an average were 0.0180 milligrams per litre. This is 36 times higher that the EEC limit for pesticides (0.0005 mg/l). The Coca Cola brands had on an average 0.0150 mg/l of pesticides. This is 30 times higher that the EEC limit.

At the cola press conference, a visibly agitated Coke president Sanjiv Gupta said: "The allegation is serious and it has the potential to tarnish the image of our brands in the country. If this continues, we will consider legal recourse". The cola companies said the pesticide residues in their products were well within the limits set by the EU (European Union) and WHO (World Health Organisation) but they were still willing to get their products tested by an independent internationally accredited laboratory.

"The (CSE) report is baseless and should be disregarded forthwith. We are willing to get the matter investigated by the top 10 scientists of the country," Pepsico India chairman Rajeev Bakshi said. "Our product is world-class and the product is the same in Europe, US, UK or India. These are tested by top-grade labs like VIMTA in Hyderabad and TNO in Netherlands," added Mr Gupta.

However, CSE claimed that neither company's products manufactured and sold in the US had tested positive for pesticides. The CSE had procured bottles of these brands from the US for the purpose of testing. But in the bottles sold here the CSE found pesticides like lindane, DDT, malathion and chlorphyrifos. The USEPA has now withdrawn chlorphyrifos as a pesticide, as it is deadly even on exposure in small quantities.

While Mirinda Lemon tested in excess of the EEC limit by 70 times, Coca Cola contained 45 times more than the permissible limits and Fanta crossed the limit by 43 times.